Stephanie Hoopes, Peter Kilde, Marc Perry, Dalitso Sulamoyo: “Poverty Blind”
Reality Roundtable #07
December 10th, 2023
(Conversation Recorded on November 27th, 2023)
Show Summary
On this Reality Roundtable, Nate is joined by four professionals with decades of experience working with low-income communities, Stephanie Hoopes, Peter Kilde, Marc Perry, and Dalitso Sulamoyo to discuss the state of poverty in the United States. Even in the wealthiest country in the world, poverty is a pernicious problem - and in a future that is more resource constrained it will only get worse. Do the current official measurements of poverty accurately portray the living standards of most Americans? How are poverty and agency entangled, and how do we empower both for people who currently aren’t meeting survivability standards? What role does community and social capital play in alleviating resource limitations and creating a better quality of life?
About Stephanie Hoopes
Stephanie Hoopes, PhD, is the National Director of United For ALICE at United Way of Northern New Jersey. She developed the ALICE (Asset, Limited, Income, Constrained, Employed) measures for a pilot study of the low-income community in Morris County while at Rutgers University-Newark, and has since overseen the expansion to a national effort with ALICE data for all 3,000 U.S. counties. Her research has garnered the attention of local, state, and national media. Dr. Hoopes has a doctorate degree from the London School of Economics.
About Peter Kilde
Peter Kilde has been ED of West CAP, an anti-poverty community action agency in West Central Wisconsin since 1995. West CAP has developed and manages multiple low-income housing projects, and operates homelessness, weatherization, food security, adult literacy and skills, and various sustainable community programs. Peter served on the National Community Action Partnership Board of Directors, where he established and co-chaired the Partnership for Climate Resilience which focuses on how CAP agencies across America can help their communities adapt to Climate Change. Peter also serves on the Wisconsin Community Action Program Association (WISCAP) Board, the regional Workforce Development Board.
About Marc Perry
Marc Perry has more than 25 years’ experience working with youth and adults from diverse backgrounds. Marc currently serves as the Executive Director for Community Action Inc., of Rock and Walworth Counties where he is responsible for making sure the organization stays true to its mission of moving families toward economic self-reliance. Marc provides training and technical assistance for partner organizations and facilitates cultural equity workshops for both private and public institutions, including school districts, NGOs and law enforcement entities throughout the Midwest.
About Dalitso Sulamoyo
Dalitso Sulamoyo was born and raised in Malawi, South East Africa. Since moving to the United States of America in the early 1990s, he has made economic and social justice a focal part of his career. Dalitso Sulamoyo has been the Chief Executive Officer of the Champaign County Regional Planning Commission since June 2017. As the CEO, Dalitso oversees a multi-faceted government agency with over 140 different federal, state, and local grants and contracts with a budget of over $6million. The agency’s services range from transportation planning, police training, energy efficiency training, community services, workforce development, economic and community development to early childhood education for income eligible families.
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Show Notes & Links to Learn More:
00:00 - Stephanie Hoopes, Peter Kilde (West Cap affordable housing project), Marc Perry, Dalitso Sulamoyo
03:52 - ALICE, ALICE in the Crosscurrents: Covid and Financial Hardship in the U.S., ALICE in Focus: Children
04:55 - 12.8% officially below the federal poverty line, another 29% defined in ALICE
06:18 - Household Survival Budget
07:21 - Federal Poverty Level, Lyndon Johnson War on Poverty, no adjustment since
07:41 - Negative connotations with poverty
09:51 - Cost of living is higher than wages in many areas across the country
10:11 - Mean vs median income in the US
10:52 - Child Poverty and future life outcomes
14:17 - Racial disparities in poverty
17:38 - Increase in utility bills
19:27 - Poverty, by America by Matthew Desmond
12:40 - ALICE households and taxes
24:13 - Hurricane Katrina, 1400 died
25:23 - Wealth disparity in being able to cope with natural disaster
26:44 - Katrina rebuilding fraud
27:02 - 15 years post-Katrina census in New Orleans is still 100,000 fewer
27:28 - Hurricane Maria, 3,000 person death count,
29:13 - Status of Puerto Rican citizens, Puerto Rico natural disaster and failing health care system
29:34 - 5 billionaires in the submarine
29:44 - Paul Ehrlich + TGS Episode, 10 million people starving yearly
30:00 - Native villages burning in Canada, Bangladesh, Somalia
34:09 - Increase in demand for financial aid services post-pandemic
34:56 - Academic testing scores declines since the pandemic
36:11 - Increase in asylum seekers in the US
38:31 - Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program
44:11 - Economic impact payments during COVID
46:07 - 1984 George Orwell, Brave New World Aldous Huxley
48:36 - Energy consumption is 85% fossil hydrocarbons
53:46 - Individualist vs collectivist
55:47 - Norway economic inequality, social welfare programs
56:27 - Norway 50% tax rate, state owned oil companies
57:46 - Communities of higher incomes are more likely to vote
58:10 - US vs Norwegian voter turnout
58:31 - Racial Justice Through Civic Engagement: A Look at Voting and the Census
1:03:15 - Community needs assessment
1:03:52 - Dennis Meadows + TGS Episode, Limits to Growth
1:05:18 - ALICE Economic Viability Dashboard
1:11:07 - Illinois law providing utility assistance
1:16:07 - Global Poverty
1:18:56 - Tropical cyclone impact on Malawi, thousands of deaths